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Orphan Kitten Care FAQ
Author
This FAQ will appear as a section in the forthcoming publication Love
That Cat! Guide to 1600 Products, Resources, Solutions & Comforts for
Cats and Cat Lovers. Olivia Russell, ed. Allium Press, Takoma Park,
Maryland, 1997. Copyright 1997 by Olivia Russell, All Rights Reserved
Internet distribution arranged by Sharon Talbert,
[1]stalbert@u.washington.edu.
_________________________________________________________________
Foreword
A general note about taking in strangers. Always, always isolate a
rescued cat or kitten from your pets for at least fourteen days and
until it has been examined by your veterinarian and tested for lethal
disease; even a tiny kitten can pack a killer virus or parasite. Make
the kitten comfortable in a room that is frequently visited by you and
that is separate from your other pets, and wash your hands with an
antibacterial soap between visits to the new animal and your
household. Consult with your veterinarian so that you are able to
weigh the risks against the many blessings of taking in an orphan
kitten.
The following, numbered sequence could be applied generally to an
orphaned kitten of any age but is particularly important for the frail
newborn. Less detailed instructions for older kittens follow. Good
luck to foster mothers everywhere.
Sharon Talbert
_________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
* [2]1. Determine the Kitten's Condition
* [3]2. Make the Kitten Comfortable and Warm
* [4]3. Prepare the Feeding
* [5]4. More on Emptying the Bowel and Bladder
* [6]5. Maintenance
_________________________________________________________________
1. Determine the Kitten's Condition
Any kitten, even if it seems fine, should be seen by your vet as soon
as possible. Take a fresh stool sample with you, so the vet may check
for intestinal parasites. If a fecal cannot be done by the time of the
appointment, take a stool sample as soon as you can. Remove as many
fleas as you safely can (with a comb for newborns; do not bathe, spray
or powder a kitten before it is six weeks old).
If the kitten is lethargic or cool to the touch, you may have a
life-threatening emergency (such as exposure or distemper). Get the
kitten on a heating pad or other primary heat source (see item 2) and
get it to a veterinarian right away or consult an emergency veterinary
clinic. Do NOT feed a chilled newborn -- you will kill it. Instead,
administer slightly warmed Pedialyte (an infant rehydrating fluid,
available in any grocery or pharmacy), using an animal nurser,
syringe, or dropper. (You can greatly extend the life of the Pedialyte
by freezing it as ice cubes, bagging the cubes and storing them in
your freezer, by the way.) Feed the kitten only when it is warmed and
indicates it is hungry.
If the kitten seems over-warm and/or is breathing rapidly, it may be
feverish or suffering from heat exhaustion or worse. Contact your vet
or an emergency veterinary clinic immediately for advice if you can.
To help lower the kitten's body temperature, try wiping it down with a
cool, damp cloth; then administer Pedialyte. Get the kitten to a
veterinarian as soon as possible.
If the kitten is active and screaming lustily for its mother, go
quickly to item 2; you will find that a heating pad will help calm the
kitten while you prepare its first meal.
_________________________________________________________________
2. Make the Kitten Comfortable and Warm
Empty the Bladder
Newborns cannot evacuate their bowel or bladder unassisted. The kitten
you have found may be in excruciating pain or in danger of going toxic
from having to retain its own body waste. You should help the kitten
at least empty its bladder before proceeding with warming or feeding
or even the trip to the veterinarian. With the kitten on a towel in
your lap, lightly rub the kitten's body with a rough, dry washcloth.
(At that point, the kitten may roll over or otherwise present its
bottom to you.) With a generous handful of soft tissue (also to be
kept handy at all times) gently stroke the kitten's behind, keeping
the tissue in contact. The kitten should oblige by urinating a rather
amazing amount. Simply rotate the tissue until kitten stops urinating
or the tissue is soaked, whichever comes first. (Did I mention to keep
a waste bag handy for this procedure?)
Another method to stimulate evacuation is to use a tissue or wash
cloth moistened with warm water instead of a dry cloth or to apply a
moistened Q-tip (hold the kitten over a sink or a folded towel if you
use the latter method).
Warm the kitten
A newborn kitten is not capable of generating or maintaining body
warmth and must depend on its mother (and now you) to sustain warmth
and life. Keeping a newborn orphan warm (even on a warm day) is a
priority, more important initially than feeding (do NOT feed a chilled
kitten, by the way -- you will kill it). Bundling up the kitten will
do no good; it has no body heat of its own to retain. And putting the
kitten near a space heater or other heating element is neither
sufficient for the long-term nor safe. Wrap a heating pad, set on low,
in a towel or flannel and place it in or beneath the nesting box,
leaving room for the kitten to crawl off the heated area as needed.
(Emergency, short-term measures: If you don't have a heating pad, put
the kitten on a wrapped hot water bottle or snugged against a tightly
sealed and well stabilized jar of warm water. Better yet, put the
kitten next to your body -- next to the skin if possible. Then go out
and borrow or buy that heating pad after the first feeding or take the
kitten to the vet immediately if its condition is poor or
questionable.)
The Den
Newborns should be shielded from direct light and contained in their
den until they are at least three weeks old. Remember to try to
provide the kitten an area in the den where it can crawl off the
heating pad if it gets overheated. A small airline-style carrier
doubles very well as a den and a taxi, though the kitten will soon
outgrow it. A pair of large nested boxes is a good den, as long as the
kitten cannot crawl out. If you are fostering a single kitten, provide
a surrogate sibling in the form of a small stuffed toy or bundled
sock.
_________________________________________________________________
3. Prepare the Feeding
The Formula
There are several good milk replacers on the market, available in
liquid or powder form (my personal favorite is called Just Born). The
ready-mix liquid is more convenient. Be sure the product is engineered
for kittens and that it is fresh (some have a short shelf-life). Milk
replacers can be found in any pet supplies store, most veterinary
clinics, and even in some variety stores. In an emergency or for the
short-term, you can make up your own formula from tinned or powdered
goat's milk (see below). If the kitten seems weak or ill and you
cannot get to a veterinarian right away, you should administer
slightly warmed Pedialyte before offering the milk replacer.
Mona's Homemade Goats Milk Formula
Mona Myers, a certified bird rehabilitator in Seattle who has in the
past rescued orphan kittens, swears by this formula and prefers it to
the ready-made products. You might try her recipe if the kitten is not
responding well to the commercial product.
Use tinned or powdered goats milk. (Either should be kept in the
fridge when opened>) For a newborn or a kitten suffering from
exposure, substitute Pedialyte for water to reconstitute the powdered
goats milk. (Stick with the Pedialyte formula for the first week or so
with a weak newborn, then switch to boiled water as the base.) Warm a
measured amount of the liquid slightly and pour into a bowl. Using a
flour sifter, sift the goats milk powder into the liquid, blending
with a wire whisk. To every 8 oz of goats milk, whether tinned or
reconstituted, add 1/3 dropper Avitron and 1/3 dropper Avimin
(available in pet supply stores). Finally, add 1/4 tsp acidophilus
culture and 1/4 tablet (crushed) papaya enzyme (these last ingredients
are found in health food stores; acidophilus culture must be
refrigerated).
This formula is best after being refrigerated for at least an hour,
but it can be warmed (in hot water or microwaved a few seconds in a
dish, not in the nurser) and served immediately.
The Nurser
While you are purchasing the milk replacer, find a good nurser. Most
of these look like a baby bottle in miniature; I prefer the model with
a pointy nipple. Pierce the nipple with a large-gauge needle (heated
over a match) or ask the veterinarian to prepare the nurser for you.
The nipple is constructed of tough stuff and is difficult to pierce;
whatever you do do NOT cut the nipple with a knife or household
scissors, however tempted you may be -- you may kill the kitten if you
make the hole too large and flood its lungs. If you must resort to
cutting, use a cuticle scissor and snip ever so delicately, then test
(the flow should be a very thin stream) before offering the bottle to
the kitten. If you did it wrong and made the hole too big, go out and
buy another bottle or replacer nipple.
Other possible nursers are a 6-cc syringe or the kind of squeeze
bottle used to dispense droplet medication (ask your veterinarian or
pharmacist). These do present some risk, as the formula must be forced
into the kitten's mouth, again increasing the risk of flooding the
lungs. Last choice is a dropper, the slowest of the slow, but better
than nothing until you go out and buy a nurser.
The Feeding
Heat the formula (in hot water) until it is comfortably warm. Test a
stream on the inside of your wrist, first shaking the bottle to even
out the temperature. Within easy reach, set a rough washcloth, paper
towel, and a box of tissue. Also keep a cup of hot water nearby (but
not where it could tip onto the kitten) to warm the nurser as needed.
Then lay an old towel, the fluffier the better, across your lap. Hold
the kitten belly-down, steadying and guiding the head to the nipple
with the same hand that is holding the bottle. (This is just my
technique; you may find another that works best for you.) Try to
center the nipple in the kitten's mouth, over the tongue, and apply
just enough pressure on the nurser to bead out a bit of formula on the
nipple. If this is not enough to induce the kitten to begin suckling,
squeeze a tiny bit into its mouth and wait for it to swallow before
(gently!) squeezing again. This can be even trickier than it sounds,
particularly if the kitten is desperately hungry. Convincing a
frenzied kitten to slow down and suckle is no easy task. Another
kitten may be put off by the strangeness of the offering and so will
resist feeding or may be too weak to take the nipple immediately. Be
patient and calm and persistent, applying careful pressure on the
nurser to keep the formula coming at a natural rate without squirting
it down the kitten's throat. Watch the ears: If they start to bob, the
kitten is getting just the right amount of formula. If formula bubbles
out the nostrils, pull back immediately -- you are drowning the
kitten.
Do not overfeed, especially at the first meal. A series of small meals
is better than one large one. And don't go crazy trying to follow the
complicated instructions on the formula container. Feed the kitten
until it settles down and its tummy is full but not distended, then
gently remove the nipple and rub the kitten gently but briskly all
over with your hand or that rough dry washcloth. (Remember, you are a
momcat now; your baby needs the stimulation provided by that
tough-love tongue all mother cats have.) If the kitten doesn't
immediately begin to complain and nuzzle for more milk, it is fed.
Continue rubbing or patting until you get a burp. If you don't get a
burp right away, try putting the kitten over your shoulder like any
other baby and patting it gently on the side or back. Then return it
to the heating pad for about 15 minutes before going to the next step.
(Or to the next kitten, if you are caring for a litter.)
A special note on suckling. The suckling instinct in very strong in
these little guys, and they are likely to suckle on another. This
behavior can be lethal to a male kitten if the genitals are suckled,
causing swelling and impaction of the urinary tract. You may need to
separate kittens from one another, or at least separate the aggressive
suckler. The single kitten should be provided a surrogate momcat or
sibling in the person of a soft plush toy that can be snuggled and
suckled. Keep the surrogate "mom" and the kitten's bedding clean but
chemical-free, for safe suckling.
Frequency of feedings
Feed a newborn at least every four hours or on demand. Do not
overfeed. Be prepared to do night feedings.
A note on tube-feeding. The feeding process can be greatly speeded up
by feeding per catheter directly to the stomach. Consult with your
veterinarian and insist on a training session before attempting to
tube-feed, incorrect insertion of the catheter could flood the
kitten's lungs. I do not recommend tube-feeding on a daily basis;
kittens need nurturing, physical contact in order to thrive almost as
much as they need nourishment. If you do tube-feed, handle the
kittens. Put them in a sling or fanny pack and wear them around the
house (I use a kitten snuggly made by a friend).
_________________________________________________________________
4. More on Emptying the Bowel and Bladder
I recommend emptying the kitten both immediately before and about 15
minutes following each feeding. With any luck, you have already
emptied the bladder. Evacuation of the bowel will probably not happen
at the first attempt and may take a day or two. When it does happen,
don't be horrified at the toothpaste consistency and mustard color --
this is normal for a newborn. (A grayish stool is cause for concern,
however; call the vet at once.) Once bowel movements have begun, you
should see a movement for every feeding.
Diarrhea
Kittens dehydrate quickly, so feed carefully to prevent diarrhea. Do
not over-feed and do not make sudden or radical changes to the
kitten's diet. If diarrhea (or constipation) develops, consult your
veterinarian for adjustment of the formula or feeding portion. If the
stool is liquid or bloody or contains mucous, consult your vet or make
an appointment.
_________________________________________________________________
5. Maintenance
Weigh the kitten on the first day and re-weigh and record the kitten's
weight at least every other day. Use a postage scale or food scale or
baby scale (the bathroom scale is not going to cut it). Observe the
kitten's daily progress closely. if there is failure to thrive, weight
loss, signs of distress, lassitude, or change in body temperature,
consult your veterinarian at once. Be alert for changes in behavior;
if a newborn kitten persistently crawls away from the nest or (in the
case of a litter) seems always to be on its own, consult your
veterinarian at once.
Toddlers
A kitten's eyes are generally fully open by ten days old (they begin
to open at seven days). By three or four weeks a kitten is mobile and
able to eat at least some solid food. The kitten is also ready for the
litterpan as soon as it can toddle to it. (I recommend introduction to
the litterpan by three weeks with expectation of seeing some
independent use of the pan by four weeks.)
Den and Living Space
Toddlers should be encouraged to play and extend themselves, but they
must be contained in a safe, small room. Do not give small kittens the
run of your home or apartment, particularly if they are in the process
of being socialized! Start newborns with the denning box, then at
about three weeks allow them out of the box to explore a small,
kitten-proofed room that is warm and secure. A spare bedroom is a good
living space, a bathroom is fine, as long as the lid is left down on
the toilet and floor isn't too cold (newspaper is a good insulator if
that is the case). Provide a den (the carrier or nesting box) as safe
haven and sleeping place.
Solid Food
By four weeks old or a bit sooner, your kitten can be introduced to
solid food. Start with a slightly warmed moosh of formula mixed with
strained meat babyfood (chicken or turkey) and formula, offered on a
saucer or small plate. (There is a transitional cereal offered by Just
Born you can mix into the mess as well.) Be sure not to overheat the
stuff in the microwave -- only a few seconds is all it needs, and be
sure to mix it thoroughly with your finger so that you get all the hot
spots. You may have to put a bit of food on the kitten's nose or in
its mouth to get it going, using your finger or a plastic spoon.
Within the week, add a good-quality kitten chow (I prefer Iams),
softened in warm water, while phasing out the formula, both by nurser
or in the solid food (moisten with water, as necessary). By the time
the kitten is six weeks old, it should be scarfing down straight
kitten chow and drinking water on its own. Wean gently and gradually
though; you don't want a thumb-sucker on your hands.
The Water Dish
By four or five weeks, the kitten should be taking water on its own as
well as food. Provide a low, heavy dish, so the kitten can walk in it,
dip its paws and otherwise perform the scientific experiments typical
of all felines. If you can, place the dish in a corner or other
low-traffic area and handy but not too close to the food dish. You may
need to help the kitten by providing it with an opaque rather than a
clear dish and by wetting its nose with your finger and leading it
down to water level. Given the kitten has been lapping up its
moosh-meals for a while by now, drinking water shouldn't be too great
an adjustment.
Litterpan
Kittens are like any other toddler; they play too hard and too long
and then desperately need to relieve themselves, so be sure a
litterpan (or litterpans, in a larger room) is handly at all times.
Start with a pan small enough and low enough for a toddler to get into
(and out again) with no trouble; a good starter pan is the cut-down
box used in pet food stores for display of small tins. Very little
training is necessary. Put the kitten into the litterpan 15 minutes or
so after a meal, perhaps stimulating it by guiding its paws into a
digging motion. If the kitten hops right out, put it right back in
again, at least for a time or two. That and the occasional remainder
is all you should have to do. If there is an accident, put the feces
in the litterpan to help redirect the kitten. Use newspaper rather
than plastic on the floor. And do NOT use clumping litter for a young
kitten! Kittens are likely to eat litter, and the clumping stuff can
block the intestine. I recommend a pellet-style litter until the
kitten is at least eight weeks old, and even then watch to be sure the
kitten is not eating the stuff. When the kitten is five or six weeks
old, it is ready for a full-size litterpan; simply provide a brick as
a stepping stone if necessary (I wrap the brick in an old towel).
Preschoolers (eyes starting to turn color)
Orphans should be started on their distemper shots (done in a series
of three) at six weeks. (Note: A kitten who did not receive at least
the first three days of its mother's milk should be started on shots
at four weeks.) The kitten should be tested for FeLV (or even FIV, if
it is from a high-risk feral colony or of unknown background), and
should also have its stool tested for intestinal parasites.
Innoculation against FeLV (feline leukemia) will have to wait until
the kitten is at least ten weeks old, but test anyway. A kitten
testing positive should be held for at least two weeks (I recommend a
month) and then tested a second time, to rule out a false postitive
result. Starting an animal on the FeLV series without first ruling out
whether the animal is a carrier is irresponsible and reprehensible!
By now your foster kitten is gobbling down kitten chow by the bowlful
and drinking water on its own. That's all any weanling kitten needs,
if the food is good quality and the kitten is healthy. By the time the
kitten is a robust eight weeks old it is ready to go to a loving,
responsible home -- if you are strong enough to let it go.
And if you do adopt out your kitten, please consider spaying or
neutering it first, before it starts making kittens of its own (which
it can by six months of age). A healthy kitten can be safely
spayed/neutered as early as eight weeks of age (minimum weight two
pounds), but at least sterilize by four months.
_________________________________________________________________
Orphan Kitten Care FAQ
Sharon Talbert, [7]stalbert@u.washington.edu
Friends of Campus Cats, University of Washington
With heartfelt thanks to Adawna Windom, DVM, and Mona Myers, BLE
(Bird Lady Extroidinaire)
References
1. mailto:stalbert@u.washington.edu
2. file://localhost/home/t/tittle/public-web/cat-faqs/orphans.html#condition
3. file://localhost/home/t/tittle/public-web/cat-faqs/orphans.html#comfortable
4. file://localhost/home/t/tittle/public-web/cat-faqs/orphans.html#feeding
5. file://localhost/home/t/tittle/public-web/cat-faqs/orphans.html#bowel
6. file://localhost/home/t/tittle/public-web/cat-faqs/orphans.html#maintenance
7. mailto:stalbert@u.washington.edu

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